Baby Sisters

What would you grab if your house was on fire and you could grab 3 things? I would grab my Bible, my photograph albums, and Baby Sisters. It is really hard to put in to words who Baby Sisters are and what they mean to me. As in the Velveteen Rabbit, they became "real" at least 30 years ago.

Plain Granny made Baby Sister #1 (in the pink) when I was 2 years old. She was loved immediately. I slept with her, played with her, snuggled with her when I was sick or sad. By the time I was 7, Granny decided Baby Sister #1 was so worn out that she needed to be replaced. So, I received Baby Sister #2 (in the blue) for Christmas. REPLACED? Are you kidding me? Now, Baby Sister had a friend...and sister. Now, I slept and played and snuggled with BOTH Baby Sisters.

If Baby Sisters had a passport, they would have as many stamps as I do. They have been to Mexico multiple times, the British Virgin Islands, Europe and all over the United States. They went with me to spend the night with friends, to Kamp in the summers, on road trips with my family, in the "hidey hole" during tornadoes. They went EVERYWHERE with me. When my Gigi (my Dad's mom) took Vin and I on a cruise to Hawaii, Baby Sisters came, too. The maids even loved them so, they left 2 extra mints on my pillow every day for each of them. I thought that was really cool.

Granny has replaced their hair, added more stuffing to their bodies, re-attached arms and heads, and re-embroidered their faces too many times to count. I can still feel their little bodies in my arms as a little girl while I was falling asleep. I talked to them while I played and when I was in trouble or mad at my mom or dad for punishing me...or Vin for being mean to me. Baby Sisters know everything about me. It wasn't until college that I had to part with the Sisters. I came home from class one day to find one of them hanging by a noose in my closet! IT brought tears to my eyes. The next time I went home, I left them safely on my bed at Mom and Dad's house. They moved with me to St. Louis and caught all those tears I mentioned in my life moves. They have since taken their place again on my bed at my parents house. There is nothing more comforting than laying in my bed at home and snuggling with Baby Sisters. I can close my eyes and feel them in my arms and smell their smell and I am a little girl again. (This is JBS as a baby with the Sisters.)

Plain Granny has made 2 Baby Brothers now, one for each of my boys. Nothing warms my heart more than to see JBS love his "Brudder" as much as I love my Baby Sisters. Every morning when he trods his way to my bedroom, the first flop in my face is "Brudder" as JBS is climbing in to my bed to "nuggle". What a legacy Granny has started for my family.

It all started with a cute doll and an intended replacement...

Plain Granny

I am really excited today as I received a letter from my Granny yesterday that said she reads my blog. She gave up her computer, but when she volunteers at the library, she is able to log in to visit MY Home on the Range. She has already had a plug in an earlier post, so it is about time to introduce Plain Granny. (this is me with Granny at my graduation from graduate school.)

These days, we have to refer to her as Great-Granny for the sake of the kids. But, to me she will always be Plain Granny. When I was little all the Granny's on my mom's side of the Family went by Granny and their last name. So, there was Granny Young, Granny Hines, and then there was Granny that was just Granny. When my mom would refer to Granny, I needed the clarification that it was my granny. Just plain Granny. So, she came to be Plain Granny.

Granny lives in a house in the country that she has lived in since I can remember. We loved to go see Granny and Papa because we got to run in the fields, chase the cows, ply hide and seek in the barns, play in the cellar, etc. Growing up in Dallas, this was really exciting stuff! (This is a pic of JBS, G2, and Granny on the cellar door at Granny's house.)

With my Granny's house come the things I will always remember from my childhood visits. I can hear the bells that chime as someone opened the back door even now. She still has the gas heaters in each bathroom that would keep the bathroom floor really warm in the winter. I remember her kitchen table from the many hours of eating and talking around it, the clock on the kitchen wall, the books in her shelves, the 8 tracks and 8 track play in her den (yes, they are still there). Although it has changed now, Granny and Papa used to have a party line. This meant they shared a phone line with their neighbors (a couple miles down the road). So, the phone would ring once for the other family and twice for Granny's house. That was the country. We would sit on the front porch at night and watch the combines harvest the wheat and watch for shooting stars. There are so many fond memories at Granny's I don't think I can begin to scratch the surface. There was always family, always food and always fun to be had.

This is a picture of Granny and Papa when they were 16. They were high school sweethearts and married straight out of high school before Papa left for World War II. Papa went to be with the Lord in 1998, but Granny and Papa had over 50 wonderful years of marriage. They were perfect examples to me of how a good Christian marriage should be. When I hear the song lyrics by Paul Overstreet (I think), "I come from a long line of love..." I think of Granny and Papa. Papa worked as a telegrapher for the railroad for many years. So, he was always tapping out messages on the counter. (This is not a bad idea, as the kids didn't understand anything he said...or tapped.) I always remember when he would come home from work, he always tapped, "I love you" to Granny on the counter...at least that's what they told me he said. They were in love and they showed us that every day. That's my Granny and Papa.